יום ראשון, 10 ביוני 2012

After the Chuppah - Naso 5772


As you know, the Parshios are divided in ways that separate between topics. It is very strange that Parshas Bamidbar contains Masa Bnei Kehas, the Tzavaa and different details of what the family of Kehas carried and this week’s Parsha begins with Masa Bnei Gershon and the Masa of the Bnei Mirari (with the details of the job of the Bnei Gershon and Bnei Mirari and the things that they carried when transporting the Mishkan). It is very strange that the 2 Parshios should be broken up in a way that it doesn’t leave either the Bnei Gershon or the Bnei Mirari together with Parshas Bamidbar. After all Parshas Naso has plenty of Pesukim to spare. Or the reverse, putting the Bnei Kehas in this week’s Parsha. It is a very strange way for it to be broken up.
In the Sefer Acharai Ro’i he has a beautiful Pshat. The Hakdama to this Pshat is the Ohr Hachaim Hakodosh who writes that when the three families of the Leviim divided the job of carrying the utensils of the Mishkan from one place to another it wasn’t one job that was divided among three. Rather it was three jobs in the sense that each carrying job had its own personality had its own uniqueness. The Bnei Kehas carried the Aron. Ha’aron Nosei Es Nosav. It was not a job that involved heavy physical work. It was easy to do. The Aron carried those who carried it. It was a certain level of carrying. Bnei Gershon carried the curtains that housed the Shechina. They carried things that were very close to the Shechina. The Bnei Mirari had the hard job of carrying the Kerashim the wooden beams that formed the walls of the Mishkan and their job was the most physical of all. In sorts the Bnei Kehas had the most spiritual job, the Bnei Gershon in between, and the Bnei Mirari the most physical part of this holy work of carrying the Mishkan.
Parshas Bamidbar always occurs before Matan Torah, before Shavuos. This is something mandated by the Gemara in Maseches Megillah 31b (13 lines from the bottom) (תניא ר' שמעון בן אלעזר אומר עזרא תיקן להן לישראל שיהו קורין קללות שבתורת כהנים קודם עצרת) (Ed. Note: the Gemara mentions that the Klalos of the end of Sefer Vayikra in Parshas Bichukosai are read before Shavuos, however, Tosafos in Dibbur Hamaschil (קללות שבת"כ קודם עצרת ושבמשנה תורה קודם ראש השנה) mentions (ומטעם זה אנו קורין במדבר סיני קודם עצרת כדי שלא להסמיך הקללות שבבחוקותי לעצרת)). Parshas Naso is always afterwards. As you know Mattan Torah is very much like a Chuppah between Klal Yisrael and the Ribbono Shel Olam. When it comes to getting married there are different attitudes which a person must succeed at dealing with in marriage.
When ones comes to a Chuppah, Ha’aron Nosei Es Nosav. A person is carried to the Chuppah on cloud 9. A person is carried there happily. It is not a hard job to come to one’s own wedding. However, after the wedding a person has to know that the job changes. It becomes much more tedious and it becomes much more difficult. First you have the job of having walls, utensils, things in the house that keep the Kedusha of the house going. Later on in life if one is successful and is Zoche to have a family, Zoche to have a business, Zoche to have a home, than the job becomes a much more physical job. A job that involves much more labor and much more difficulty. All of this to build a Mishkan, a place of Kedusha.  Therefore, the Parsha was broken up this way. Before Mattan Torah which is the Chuppah of Bnei Yisrael with the Ribbono Shel Olam, we have the carrying of the Ha’aron Nosei Es Nosav. We talk about carrying the Mishkan and the matter of carrying the Aron, of flying high as one approaches Mattan Torah as one approaches the Chuppah. After the Chuppah which was Shevuos, we read about the next job, maintaining the Kedusha that we have and ultimately the Bnei Mirari which is the job of doing physical things, hard things that have to do with our physical existence. For example, going to work, paying bills, struggling with physical challenges. All of this in a manner of Kedusha of leading to the building of the Mishkan. Therefore, the Seder is B’davka. The Seder is Kehas first, Shevuos second, Gershon & Mirari next. A beautiful Vort for the Parsha and a beautiful Vort for this coming month of June where many of us have Aufrufs, Chasunah, Sheva Berachos, Simchos relating to Chosson V’kallah. This is a very appropriate Vort for such an occasion.

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